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BRAZIL

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20 views5 pages

BRAZIL

Uploaded by

srcarvalhocosta27
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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BRAZIL

DISCUSS

a) Have you ever been to the Amazon Rain Forest? If not, would you like
to?

b) How do you feel when you are surrounded by trees and plants?

c) What is the importance of protecting the environment?

LISTEN AND ANSWER – do not look at the text yet!

a) Is The Brazil Wood Tree found in the Amazon Rainforest?

b) There are many Wood Trees in Brazil nowadays. True or false?

c) Brazil was the first country named after a tree. True or false?

d) How tall is the Brazil Nut Tree? And how long can they live?

e) Complete: The Brazil Nut Tree fruit is the size of a ( ) and weighs ( )
kilos. It can produce in a year ( ) kilos of nuts.

f) What is the country that exports most Brazil nuts?


Brazil Wood Tree and Brazil Nut Tree

Richard – 55% of Brazil is covered in forest. So for this week’s


podcastinenglish.com we’re talking about trees - two Brazilian trees.

Jackie – The Brazil Wood tree and the Brazil Nut tree.

R- Now I know about Brazil Nuts, but I’ve never heard of the Brazil Wood
Tree. Is that an Amazon Rainforest tree?

J- No, Richard, it’s a tree that grew along the coast of Brazil hundreds of
years ago. Very popular with the early Portuguese explorers.

R- You said ‘grew’, so does that mean it’s extinct?

J- No, it’s not extinct, Richard. But there are not so many Brazil Wood
Trees now as in the past. The trees were cut down because they
produced a wonderful red dye.

R- Ah! So they named then, they called the tree after the country then,
didn’t they?

J- In fact, Brazil is the only country named after a tree!


R- Ah, so the country was named after the tree?

J- Yes! Because the tree was so important at that time. The country’s
name came after the tree.

R- So you’ve got the Brazil Wood Tree but you’ve also got the Brazil nut
tree... ha ha ha! Where did that come from?

J- The Brazil Nut Tree is named after the country, Richard, and it’s an
amazing tree.

R- So is that an Amazon rainforest tree then?

J- Yes, it is, and it’s one of the biggest trees – it grows up to 50 metres
tall.

R- That’s tall!

J- And the trunk of the tree is very tall, right? The branches are near the
top and the fruit, which has the nuts in, is at the top of the tree, right?
So the fruit is the size of a baseball.

R- Wow!

J- It weighs 2 kilos, and that falls from 50 metres. It falls at 80 kilometres


an hour.

R- So you don’t want to be underneath the tree when that happens!

J- Someone has died because the fruit landed on his head.

R- Wow! I know people dying from coconuts landing on them, but I had
never heard of Brazil Nut Tree death.

J- The trees can live, Richard, for 5 hundred years. And they think there
are some trees which are a thousand years-old.

R- Wow, I love the Olive trees round here then. Very old.

J- And in one year, one Brazil Nut tree can produce over a hundred
kilograms of nuts.

R- Hum! That’s a lot! So it is called the Brazil Nut tree – is it only found in
Brazil?

J- No, Richard. It’s found in the Amazon rainforest, and the Amazon
Rainforest covers quite a few countries, right?

R- Hum-hum.
J- And in fact, the country that exports most Brazil nuts is Bolivia.

R- Oh! Hahaha! That’s interesting in itself, but only grown around the
Amazon?

J- Exactly. So, Brazil - the only country named after a tree.

R- And the only tree named after a country!

J – I think so!

Parts of a tree

VOCABULARY

1- rainforest – a tropical forest

2- dye - a natural or synthetic substance used to add a color to or


change the color of something.

3- named after – Give someone or something the name of another


person or place. For example, They named the baby after his
grandfather , or The mountain was named after President McKinley

4- underneath- the same as under; situated directly under something.


5- quite a few – many

Now complete the sentences with one of the words/phrases above:

a) There were ( ) people at the dance party last night.

b) My son will be ( ) my father.

c) I need some hair ( ). I’d like to change the color of my hair to blonde.

d) Sylvia was sitting ( ) an apple tree when she was hit on her head by
a fruit.

e) Something should be done in order to protect Brazil’s ( ).

DISCUSS

A) What is the most serious problem you think Brazil is facing now:
violence, economic crisis, social difference, political division, polution,
etc.?

B) If you could, would you move away from Brazil?

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